Remembrance 2016; A warning about what it really means to say 'never again'.
Based on my Remembrance Sunday sermon for that year.
I often hear the words, 'they don't write hymns like they used to.' Or 'they don't write pop song like they used to'. A friend of mine was talking about how the songs from the 60's were so much better, and the young people today listen to such terrible lyrics. I had to remind him that he grew up listening to 'She wore an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow polka dot bikini.'
The truth is, we often edit the past to suit the story we want to tell. We sing the hymn 'O God our help in ages past' as a song of nostalgia, of comfort in times of change, and of God's offer of help in times of trouble. We forget that Isaac Watts, a dissenter, wrote that hymn in a time of political turmoil, when the 'stormy blast' came at least in part from the religious oppression of Queen Anne and her government. We take little notice of the verse that says;
The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in following years.
And we even edit out the verse that says;
Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
Return, ye sons of men:
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.
For Watts, the trust placed by people in political structures, and national powers, was false, fleeting, and ungodly. His comfort was in knowing that the present oppression was, in the eternal scale of things, just a fleeting moment.
These were the three readings for our Remembrance Sunday service this year;
Malachi 4. 1-2a, 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13, and Luke 21. 5-19
Three readings, with three warnings;
· Malachi offers a warning for the arrogant and evil people.
· Thessalonians gives a warning against idleness.
· Luke's account of the words of Jesus give a warning against those who put their trust in human built structures, fancy buildings, and powerful organisations.
But in each there is hope;
· hope for the one who revere's the name of God;
· Hope for those who work for what is right;
· And even eternal hope for those who
trust in God. Even though we face persecution, there is eternal hope for us, and for all, if we speak up for what is right.
We come together today to remember those who gave their lives for us in battle, for those who live with the trauma of surviving while their brothers, and sisters in arms were lost. To remember those families who made, and continue to make the sacrifice of waving farewell to loved ones who are sent around the world to fight, to defend, to break down, and to rebuild; to rebuild communities free from oppression. We remember, those families who honour the solidarity of a globally connected human race; who allow their loved ones to fight, and possibly to never come home, because they know that when one part of the human race suffers injustice and oppression, we are all damaged by it.
We remember, as we always do at this time, those who fought for good and worked for what is right. But perhaps this year, more than ever, we need to heed those warnings not to become arrogant or complaisant; not to become idle in our comfort, and not to allow ourselves to be convinced by the false stability of human power and strength over the evils of this world, or our natural human mortality.
It is a year when the debate has turned to refugees fleeing wars, to peaceful borders becoming ever so slightly less friendly, of the rich threatening to build walls to keep out the poor, of arrogant leaders declaring their greatness, and the still small voice of God's justice being lost in the cacophony of people who would claim they have earned their position; that the world owes them something, that their needs are greater than those people of other nations, and that their rights do not need to be considered in a wider context, or without responsibility to the wider human family.
We come together today to remember those who fought for what is right, but we cannot do that if we forget the right they fought for. We come to remember the people, not just of our nation, but those of the many nationalities who fought with us in the World wars. We remember not just the Christians, but also the Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and all the people of other religions who fought with us in the wars. We also remember those people, who were just as imperfect as we are today, and got caught up in the evil of oppressive regimes; who fought against us, who found themselves convinced by unscrupulous politicians that the cause they were fighting was the right one. We need to remember that it could have been us, it could still be us if, in our idleness and arrogance, in our confidence in human structures, and our blindness to evil, we forget the freedom, and justice that was the very reason for the call to sacrifice.
We remember the freedom they fought for, the peace they fought for, the justice and the love for all of God's created people, and we need to continue to fight for that today, in our day to day lives, in elections - in charitable giving and in campaigns for justice. In how we spend our money in the shops and supermarkets, that can hold national economies to ransom in order for us to have a cheaper tin of baked beans or cup of good old British tea.
We say never again, Never Again! But those words ring hollow if they mean we would become the thing we once fought against in order to avoid an argument. They ring hollow if they mean never again will we rise from our slumber to help a world in need. They ring hollow if they mean never again will we raise our voices in protest as long as the injustice is harming them over there, and we remain safe within our borders. Never again needs to mean, never again will we let injustice and oppression go so far unchecked that millions have to die to stop the machinery that we should have seen being built. Never again will we let it get that far.
We come to remember those who fell, the peace that they fought for, and to remember that the work is not yet done.
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Beware that you are not led astray, Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right. But persevere , Because by your endurance you will save others and in saving them we will also be saving ourselves.
